Tag: Local Music

The four members of Madison-based outfit Slow Pulp craft memorable songs with their ability to seamlessly blend dreamy vocals with psychedelic tones, pop melodies, and a dash of cheeky, punk attitude. Since the band self-released EP2 last March, the songs on the EP have made their way onto curated Spotify playlists and collectively racked up over 200,000 plays, standing out among the masses of young, indie bands. And rightfully so; there’s something about Slow Pulp that instantly clicks with listeners and fans of live music alike. Their live show captivatingly translates their recorded music to the stage, giving them a magnetic presence.

This past weekend, Slow Pulp warmed up the stage for their friends Post Animal and will join them again on select dates in the summer. It’s only a matter of time before they’re playing even bigger shows to new audiences across the country, so before they blow up, get to know Slow Pulp first with these five facts we learned while chatting to them at Daytrotter last month!

SCHOOL OF ROCK IS THE REASON THEY’RE PLAYING MUSIC

Well, one of them anyways. Lead singer Emily Massey admits that the Jack Black film is the reason she started taking guitar lessons, but says her past with music stems back to a very early age. “My dad is a musician so I have been playing music and performing for pretty much my whole life,” Massey says. “The first time I sang onstage, I was like one and a half….I don’t remember that. I remember doing a talent show in kindergarten. I really didn’t want to do it, my parents made me do it. I was crying before I went and sang. I sang ‘This Little Light of Mine’,” she recalls, adding that her dad produced a hip-hop, R&B instrumental track of the song for her to sing along to. Although she initially dreaded it, Massey learned to love performing during that experience. “This was at Emerson Elementary school in Madison, WI. Talent show. Kindergarten. I was five and I had the time of my life playing onstage.”

Guitarist Henry Stoehr says his venture into playing music started a little later than that. “Alex [Leeds] and I were just talking about this earlier actually, but I think it was 6th grade for me. We went to see Modest Mouse in Madison, and this band called Man Man opened for them. I feel like that was the first really strange music I heard, or at least saw live. I don’t know exactly what it did, but I felt like it–I started caring about things I didn’t care about that before,” he says.

Bassist Alex Leeds chimes in, saying the Man Man show created an existential moment for him as well. “It was better than Modest Mouse, it was crazy. I don’t think it made me want to play music… It changed the kind of music that I wanted to make.” Leeds continued on, shouting out School of Rock. “I was playing cello in the strings program in my elementary school, and when Jack Black said ‘Cello, you’ve got a bass,’ I was like that’s what I’m gonna do! Then I got a 2×4 and I put some front marks on it and started practicing some Beatles songs and played in the school show that year on the bass.”

THEIR FRIENDSHIP WITH POST ANIMAL TRACES BACK TO SIXTH GRADE

Slow Pulp and Post Animal have shared the stage many times, but the friendship roots between some of the band members dig deep. Throughout the course of my talk with Slow Pulp after their show at Daytrotter, members of Post Animal would pop by to chime in. “Six grade chemistry,” Post Animal guitarist Javi Reyes interjects; explaining that Leeds, Stoehr, and drummer Teddy Matthews have so much chemistry as a group because they’ve been playing together since sixth grade.

That same sense of chemistry transfers to a strong bond with Post Animal, too. “Jake [Hirshland] actually played with one of Henry, Alex and I’s band in high school,” Matthews says. Besides playing in bands with each other, the members of both bands also share an instrumental bond. “I gotta give a shout out to my dad…He made Jake Hirshland and Emily’s guitars…and the bass that I play,” Leeds says.

Despite all the history, the current day line up of Slow Pulp actually hasn’t been around that long, with Emily Massey being the most recent addition. “It’s been about a year and a half,” says Stoehr. “We took this trip to Philly and just played two shows. That was the end of 2016.”

“[After those shows,] they were like wait, Emily is okay. She can stay. I started in this band as rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist. Then it evolved. Now I’m a lead guitarist and vocalist,” Massey adds.

THEY’RE MOVING TO….

Just like their lineup has changed over time, Slow Pulp’s home base will soon change. Although they’re currently based in Madison, Slow Pulp has already garnered buzz in Chicago by playing shows ranging from DIY gigs at Observatory to support slots at staples around the city, like Beat Kitchen and Lincoln Hall. It won’t be long until the group continues to tick off more and more Chicago venues from their list, though, since they’re moving here!

“There’s a rumor flying around,” says Massey. “It is true. We are moving to Chicago. Over Summer/Fall/Winter,” she continues. At the moment, Massey, Matthews, and Stoehr are currently Madison based, while Leeds lives in Minneapolis. Come September, the band will still be somewhat divided, but not for long. “The three of them, Emily, Henry and Alex, are moving to Chicago in September…then I’m still in school til January,” says Matthews.

The band members say they’re all excited to be based in one place again by the end of the year, but they still have a lot of love for the Madison music scene. “One thing I was talking about on the way down here about the Madison scene… we were noticing differences between the Madison scene and the Minneapolis scene specifically, but I think it might apply more broadly than that… People, when they come out to shows, in my experience, realize that they’re also performers in that situation. And give a lot to the bands. In Madison,” Leeds says. “I love playing in Madison for that reason. It’s a very responsive crowd and we feed off that and off each other. I don’t experience that anywhere else,” he continues.

“It can also change very drastically very fast. It’s like, most of the young people are there for a few years for school. It definitely feels like the music scene changes every few years,” Stoehr adds.

THEIR INFLUENCES RANGE FROM ST. VINCENT TO THEE OH SEES

Slow Pulp possesses a refreshingly unique aura onstage, but they have an array of artists whose stage presence they admire and get inspired by. The group all simultaneously agree on loving the stage presence of TOPS. “I’ve loved their music for a long time, and when I went to go see them live, I was unsure what to expect, but I was blown away. They have a really cool way of presenting chill music in an exciting way,” Leeds says.

“I think mine are maybe Thee Oh Sees cause they’re so nuts. Then Omni because they’re so controlled,” Stoehr says. The group also all agree on Omni and Khruangbin as huge inspirations, calling the latter the “psychedelic Preatures.”

Lastly, Massey throws out some more inspiration from all across the genre-sphere, starting off with her old pals. “Post Animal! Javier Reyes is my favorite onstage live performer. He goes hard,” she says, continuing, “I’ve seen St. Vincent play, and that was a life changing show. It was so theatrical.” She pauses, adding “David Bowie forever!” to round things out.

THEY’RE ALSO VISUAL ARTISTS

While making their music, Slow Pulp is usually heavily influenced by tones, colors, and visual art. The link to visual art inspiring their sonic scapes comes from the band members all dabbling in art themselves, and that also comes across clearly in the vision behind their “Preoccupied” music video.

“We were very involved with it,” Massey says about conceptualizing the video, and the band members all explain that they had a fleshed out concept, but the process remained flexible and fluid throughout the day. “We kept coming up with ideas as we were filming,” Massey adds, also shouting out their friend and director Damien Blue for helping with vision.

The band’s artistic vision and flexibility to work through ideas transfers into their writing process as well. “I think we definitely talk about music in a visual way, and use visual art that we like as reference points for emotions,” Stoehr says. “I think especially with colors. We talk about colors a lot in that way– And I think we usually get it, in terms of colors…We’ll be like ‘I want this song to be brown’,” Massey elaborates.

“I think the way I think of songwriting is pretty similar to painting. At least for me they’re very problem-solving oriented and reacting to what you’ve just done. In a really immediate sense. You kind of just make decisions,” Stoehr adds. Even with their somewhat long-distance writing situation, with Leeds residing in Minneapolis, the band say they focus on writing music with their live show in mind. “Even in our current situation, we’re still trying to write songs that are live songs,” they say.

There you have it! As for the new music and material that the band have been working on, they say they still aren’t exactly sure when it will be released. At the moment they’re working through the different pieces they’ve created, trying to thread them together in a way that makes the most sense.

While you wait for this new content, make sure you catch Slow Pulp in concert this summer. See all of their tour dates here.

Following their January showcase that celebrated their one year anniversary, local online music magazine ANCHR Magazine is hosting another show this month at the city’s newest venue, Sleeping Village. The lineup features Blue Dream, Engine Summer and Faux Furrs and takes place on April 20th. You can grab tickets to the show here, and get to know each band a little better below!

BLUE DREAM

The four-piece Chicago band consisting of Justin Sanetra, Anthony Cook, Jimmy Russell, and Danny Awisha recently released their debut album Volume Won; a captivating album with magnetic riffs and grooving bass lines that demand your attention. Blue Dream‘s electrifying stage presence amplifies their music to the next level, making them one of the city’s best live acts. Don’t miss your chance to see Blue Dream on 4/20; catch them headlining the show on Friday!

ENGINE SUMMER

This trio from Elmhurst, IL consisting of Jeremy Marsan, Ben Kostecki, and Ryan Ohm blends together post-punk and garage rock influences to form irresistibly catchy tunes that thread together one cohesive narrative on their debut album Trophy Kids. Catch them bringing the story to life on the Sleeping Village stage this Friday.

FAUX FURRS

Ryan Deffet, Adam Karstens, Michael Oliva, and Ryan Shuck, AKA Faux Furrs, bring all the good vibes with their lighthearted and upbeat melodies, which pair perfectly with the Spring weather that’s finally starting to hit the city this week. Get your dancing shoes ready and be prepared to bop around to their fun-spirited songs from their 2017 album Taxonomy. As the band describes their sound, it’s like “Garage Psych, in space”…make sure you come to the show to hear just how accurate that is.

This past weekend, Chicago’s DIY rock heroes Twin Peaks proved that you can go big and go home, with an incredible three night, sold out run at Pilsen’s Thalia Hall. Taking over the historic building from Friday night through New Year’s Eve, Twin Peaks not only cultivated a diverse support bill of local up and coming acts, but all three nights included an intricate stage set up and special appearances that celebrated the current Chicago music scene. One of the band’s latest songs from their Sweet ’17 Singles series “We Will Not Make It (Not Without You)” acted as the theme of the weekend, paying homage to the friendly and familiar dynamic of the Chicago scene; a dynamic where artists lift up fellow artists in the buzzing collective of talent that the city has to offer.

The first night of the weekend’s all local lineup began with Sun Cop music, followed by Knox Fortune as the main support. The brainchild of musician and producer Andrew Humphrey, Sun Cop’s set immediately displayed the attitude of friendship and supportive nature that threaded throughout the weekend, with Twin Peak’s Colin Croom joining Sun Cop’s live band lineup for the night. Croom’s appearance on stage proved to be another common theme, when he also joined Knox Fortune for his biggest show in the city yet. Although Knox Fortune has attracted attention over the past couple of years working with the likes of Chance The Rapper, singing the hook on the hit “All Night,” he only played his first official show in November this year; a sold out headlining set at Lincoln Hall. Knox Fortune’s set highlighted this city’s ability to show support and collaborate across genres, and it also featured a special appearance from his frequent collaborator Joey Purp.

Twin Peak’s set on night one set the bar high for the entire weekend, but each night only got better, with them continuously delivering the high energy and rambunctious sets that their fans have come to know and love, with all sorts of surprises. Twin Peaks is already unique enough with their lineup in that they all pitch in to write the songs, and four out of the five members alternate singing lead and are multi-instrumentalists, but these shows featured an even bigger and more layered sound than what the core members can create on their own. Joined by a horns section and local duo OHMME singing backup, Twin Peaks filled the Pilsen concert hall beautifully. The production of the night also added in another facet to these special shows, with props including pine trees and an actual motorcycle suspended from the ceiling. Of course, the night also ended with a shower of confetti raining down on the audience from the balcony.

Night two only amplified the magic of the previous night, with a whole new set of support acts and another fun spirited crowd ready to reciprocate the energy that all three bands exuded from the stage. Warming their fellow Chicagoans up on the frigid Saturday evening, trio DEHD captivated the large room with their retro garage rock tunes. The group includes NE-HI’s Jason Balla and Lala Lala’s Emily Kempf taking turns on vocals, and drummer Eric McGrady forgoing a full drum set to create a unique setup with floor toms. Next up, psych rockers Post Animal cranked up the volume, performing some of their most popular songs like “You Were Not There,” “When I Get Home,” and “Special Moment” with refreshed and fleshed out arrangements that showcased their skills as guitarists. Post Animal supported Twin Peaks for one of their Thalia Hall shows last December, and have since had one hell of a year, touring with Twin Peaks, WAVVES, White Reaper, and recently announcing their signing to Polyvinyl records. The local scene and now the national rock scene have come to love the group for their massive stage presence and ability to shred on the six string, and their set on Saturday only got even more bold when part-time band member Joe Keery made a rare appearance for the last song in the set. With Post Animal, it seems you can never have too many guitar players.

Twin Peaks’ second set of the three-night stint once again featured the same expanded lineup, as well as the confetti and custom stage setup, but the band did a great job at diversifying their setlist each night. Every night, the set heavily featured a lot of the group’s latest material that has come around the past several months as part of their Sweet ’17 Singles series, but they rearranged the order each night to keep the crowd guessing. One of this year’s singles “Shake Your Lonely” features vocalist and friend of the band’s Marisa Nakamura on the studio version, so of course they brought her out every night to sing it with them. Each night also had the Twin Peaks staples like “Making Breakfast,” “Butterfly,” and “Walk To The One You Love,” but the band mixed in some rarities to all three sets. On Saturday, they also ended with another staple “Boomers,” although they played it second on the first night and in the middle of the set the third night.

Just like that, the final night of Twin Peaks Thalia takeover fell upon the city, and another sold out crowd quickly filled up the concert hall on Sunday night. Thanks to the Twitter humor of the NYE performers NE-HI, every concert-goer that evening had the opportunity to chow down on a complimentary Chicago dog, courtesy of Goose Island. With full bellies, the crowd watched Today’s Hits kick off the show at 9PM; their set once again highlighting the friendly nature of the local music scene, as both Cadien Lake James and Colin Croom dropped in during Today’s Hits short set. Today’s Hits lead singer James Swanberg returned the favor later in the night, making an appearance during Twin Peaks’ set.

Hot dog heroes NE-HI took the stage next, lead singer Jason Balla taking the stage for the second time that weekend. Like most of the artists who were a part of this NYE weekend extravaganza, NE-HI have also had an incredible year, touring nationally, releasing their sophomore album, and performing at Pitchfork Music Festival. The four piece put on an unforgettable show every time, with Balla thrashing and jumping around as he sings, while other members James Weir and Mikey Wells follow suit and gain some serious air while leaping around. Their set featured a mix of songs from their self-titled debut, 2017’s Sophomore record (Offers), and some new material.

Twin Peaks’ final set of 2017 began just an hour before midnight and once again had some rarities and a rearranged order in their setlist. The crowd surfing commenced during the first song and lasted throughout the night as it had the previous two nights, but everyone seemed to be giving even more of their energy back to the band since it was their last show of the year. The show paused right before midnight with a collective countdown between the band and the crowd, followed by confetti and some giant balloons entering the pit. The show continued on into 2018, wrapping up with the weekend’s theme song “We Will Not Make It (Not Without You),” which bassist and vocalist Jack Dolan dedicated to everyone in the room. Even more confetti showered the room as the song wrapped up, providing the weekend’s final surprise.

Twin Peaks’ weekend at Thalia Hall celebrated more than just the new year and a fresh start; it celebrated the creative community of Chicago and promoted kindness and friendship among artists and fans alike. These shows had a revitalizing energy and an unwavering spirit that you can only feel while watching live music played by a group of friends, with all your friends. 2018 holds even more promise for more nights like this in Chicago as so much of the city’s music scene continues to grow.

Relive some of the magic of the weekend by checking out our galleries of all seven bands from across the weekend.

Knox Fortune and Sun Cop shot by Christian Heinzel. All other photos by Rachel Zyzda

Keep up with Twin Peaks in the new year by checking out their upcoming tour dates here, and grab the record of all of their Sweet ’17 Singles in the shop next month. You can also preorder your copy here.

You can also snag the Shuga exclusive pressings of NE-HI and DEHD‘s records by clicking their names.

Fun Fact: The band played a Halloween show as COPital Soirée this year, and all dressed as cops…and one of them had an unfortunate run in with law enforcement in Tennessee once. Find out more about that here.

Get ready for the show by picking up our Chicago Compilation, featuring both Lucille Furs and The Evening Attraction. Get it in store, or online here. You can also pick up Lucille Furs’ debut album in store or online now!

White Reaper, Post Animal, and Peach Pit brought a night of camaraderie and crowd surfing to a legendary Chicago space, The Metro.

Vancouver’s Peach Pit kicked off the festivities, warming up the Wrigleyville venue as the crowd still slowly trickled into the all ages show. The four piece provided the perfect teaser for the sets that would follow; the early arrivers moshing around to songs like “Tommy’s Party” and “Techo Show” from their debut album, titled Being So Normal. By the end of their 30 minute set, the crowd was buzzing in anticipation for their fellow Chicagoans in Post Animal.

Only a few short days prior to this show, one of Post Animal’s guitarists and vocalists Javi Reyes suffered a stroke onstage during their set supporting White Reaper in New York. While he had to remain in the ICU for a few days following the stroke, Reyes is bouncing back and on the road to full recovery, and he encouraged his bandmates to push through and continue the rest of tour without him. At The Metro on Tuesday night, the remaining four began their 45 minute set with drummer Wes Toledo addressing the crowd about Reyes’ situation, initiating a “Javi!” chant while he held up a cardboard cutout of his bandmate’s head that a friend had made for the show. Although there’s absolutely no replacing the flavor that Reyes adds to each of Post Animal’s performances, the group managed to rally together to reconstruct a very solid performance that absolutely shredded, despite the unfortunate circumstances. The hometown show highlights included the performance of the building and layered track “You Were Not There” from their The Garden Series EP, the psychedelic riffs of “When I Get Home” from the same EP, and their latest single “Special Moment,” which features a killer guitar solo and came along with a trippy and thrilling music video. Their set on Tuesday also included a rare performance of “Lorelei,” which features guitarist Matt Williams taking the lead on vocals and will be included on their upcoming album. While the absence of Reyes stood out to the many friends and fans in attendance, his bandmates gave the show their all and the crowd reciprocated that energy right back, not only moshing, but also kicking off the steady stream of crowd surfing that would continue throughout White Reaper’s set.

Following a thirty minute changeover, the self-proclaimed “World’s Best American Band” stormed the stage with an unwavering enthusiasm that would only support their bold claim. By the time the opening chords of “Wolf Trap Motel” from White Reaper‘s sophomore album, called White Reaper Does It Again, rang out into the venue, the crowd had completely filled in. The Louisville rockers immediately played off of and amplified the infectious positive energy that Post Animal and Peach Pit had generated, with crowd surfers popping up during the early part of the setlist. As the audience thrashed around and lifted one another up to cruise over the crowd, the five piece worked the entire stage and poured every ounce of gusto that they had into the show. Bassist Sam Wilkerson often gained some serious air jumping in place on his side of the stage, while Ryan Hater would hang out at the edge of the stage to hype up the crowd whenever he wasn’t fervently playing the keyboard, and lead singer and guitarist Tony Esposito would drop to his knees to ground his guitar playing.

The hour long set contained a fair bit of White Reaper’s aforementioned sophomore album, but crowd favorites definitely included “The Stack” and “Judy French” from the group’s 2017 album The World’s Best American Band, which has propelled the Kentucky based band into the limelight of the rock scene this year. Before the band’s explosive performance of the latter (“Judy French”), Esposito proposed that the crowd start an all female circle pit during the tune. While the ladies of the pit bopped around, confetti shot out into the crowd to create a rare confetti circle pit. As the set wound down during the last bit of the 9’o clock hour, so much crowd surfing and moshing had occurred, but the band only kept it up themselves. Esposito and Wilkerson challenged each other to their nightly shot and [crowd]surf race, in which they surf over to the venue’s bar, take a shot and then race back to the stage. During the race, Colin Croom and Cadien Lake James of Chicago’s own Twin Peaks joined the remainder of the band onstage to lend a hand to the background music that amped up the anticipation induced by the race. Clay Frankel of Twin Peaks could also be spotted down in the pit, hyping up the audience. By the time the houselights came up after White Reaper’s encore of “Half Bad” and “Another Day,” the Metro had endured one of its rowdiest shows in recent days, featuring some classic Chicago camaraderie.

Check out our gallery of all three bands below to relive the unforgettable experience!

Keep up with each band on social media below, and if you can, please consider donating to Javi Reyes’ recovery fund by clicking here.